Wow, those arrows look pretty nice! Unfortunatly, I'm amazingly low on funds and by not getting any arrow graphics not only am i saving on printing them out, but I also no longer have to buy 2 sheets of lucite to sandwhich the graphic.

Not sure what you mean about incorporating my sensors into a graphic, you might have the wrong idea about my sensors.

Devouts design works simply by creating the whole arrow out of two peices of sheet metal, seperated by some cardboard to keep them from touching. My pad was previously a devout, but I totally scrapped his sensors(I didnt' construct them very well). Now I'm using Matrix-style sensors(two brackets seperated by mousepad). Here's another pic:
See what I mean about the sensors forming an arrow(I still need to put that lasts arrows sensors in.)?
The lucite will go directly ontop of the sensors like the majority of homepads, but I'm not going to use any arrow graphic, so you can see right into the pad. That answer your questions?

Oh, do you now if 1/4" lucite will be thick enough?_________________

Knowledge is Power........Power Corrupts......Study Hard and be Evil! >:]

I'm not sure about the lucite, since I didn't use any in my design. There was only thin plexi at my hardware store and it was about $60 a sheet.
Instead I made my entire thing out of MDF, then screwed 1mm of plastic sheet (about 0.15in?) over the top, with my design underneath.

About incorporating the design... if you could find a way to do it that would look nice you could say, print off a design that would fit around the sensors, and stick it on the bottom of the arrow well.
Might be better just being see-through though.

Also I finally get how that sensor will work. Google helped a bit

Just looking at the photo of your pad, you could stick small metal retainers on the mat and hold them down using the screws already on your solid panels.
Here, I edited your picture....

It is actually quite a common feature on metal pads and such. On a few I've seen they both use screws and brackets. One downside is that you can't really adjust the sensitivity as much as you can with screws, but if you've got a good setup then you shouldn't really need to.

Just make sure you file down the edges of the metal alot, because they can be a tad sharp if you have to make them yourself.
Good luck with the rest, and make sure you post pics

Ok, I cut the acrylic, put it in, the whole thing works perfectly except the acrylic(1/4")was too thin, and flexes too much. However, I found that if i stacked two of them together it was the perfect thickness. So using the acrylic I have I got the left and down arrow working perfectly:) Tomorrow I'll be able to get more acrylic and finish the pad

I also implementing your make-a-bracket idea. It works great and looks pretty cool to. I can actually adjust the sensors with them quite a bit.

By the way, if i wanted to recolor a graphic to you know how I would do that? 'Cause now that I'm using 2 1/4" panels stacked on each other I have the option of using arrow graphics._________________

Knowledge is Power........Power Corrupts......Study Hard and be Evil! >:]

Sorry it took so long for me to post. School got busy and then I went out of town.

Well, I found out that the L shaped mending brackets I used are not as good as the straight mending brackets normally used. I think with the L shaped brackets I have my weight spread out over to much area so either the pad's not sensitive enough, or I have to make the sensors so sensitive that I get a crapload of Way offs/decents. I'm going to keep messing with it, and if that doesn't work I"m just going to go with the traditional matrix sensors.

Well, that's it. I'll post a pic of the pad once I get the ITG graphics(which I still can't find even though I've searched everywhere).

The "Stay Cool" graphics are the ones from official DDR machines. I have some panels with those graphics, but unfortunately, no scanner. :/

Shouldn't be too difficult to find if you just google image search it...

you'd be mistaken on that! I've tried every combination, but no luck (except extremely low resolution ones I can't do a thing with).

The specific one I'm looking for is the graphic on Konami's xbox 360 official softpad, its green, orange, and black, with the iconic silohette.

I don't have the money atm to build a pad of my own, so I won't be printing it, I just can't find the picture and its been really bugging me.

If I can get a job, I will be building one this winter. I'm very interested in the Stealth Pad designs, since they look like they can be built to easily match the decor of the room you play most in, so I don't have to stash it every time I finish playing

finished my pad a while ago, been using it it ITG2PC.
I've also added some buttons on top for X and O. the graphics are actually the RO 3.0 pad graphics, cut from the pad itself. (i used the control box.) i'm even using the 1" foam insert under the pad for cushioning!

We demand further pictures, scores, and directions on how to build our own!

Looks nice. The use of the IG3.0 graphics is a new idea i reckon, and it's a quite impressive one at that.
Just a suggestion, if you wanted to add graphics to the solid panels, i suggest plastic sheet and printed/prefabbed designs of your choosing.

How long did that take, and how much did it cost, and THAT IS SO DAMN AWESOME!

It took me about 8 months from the start of building until now... However, part of that process was building part of it, ordering a few of the parts I need... see how they fit together... figuring out some more stuff... ordering a few more... etc...

For example, it took me about a month for the steel place to get me the steel... (14 gauge stainless) They laser cut it and bent it all for me, however there were some... issues heh...

Took forever to find someplace to do the bars for me how I wanted em...

As for how much it cost... don't ask... *laughs* My guess is around 5K CDN right now... However, there were a few things I didn't need to put in there, or do the way I did, that would have made it cheaper. (Don't need 2 Sony 1200 Max Watt Subs, and 2 300 Watt amps for example Or all the LED lights, or the special backlit material for the arrows (which by looking at it, I think is the same stuff they use on the actual DDR arrows.) However, mine have a special 'mask' layer... so the grey border, and the metal of the arrow doesn't light up... but the colour does. (you can see it really well in the picture of the blue arrow). But yeah, it wasn't cheap... However, I enjoy projects like this. So, it's as much fun to play as it was to build...

as for the "THAT IS SO DAMN AWESOME!"
Thanks Bro =[D}

I plan on making a website, so that people can find out how I did things to assist them in building their pads... May be awhile though before that's up... we'll see.

That is a sweet home setup. At that price, I'd argue it's better just to buy a used arcade machine, but I understand the love to build and have a "hobby" project. Awesome rig. I'd be very interested in a how-to for those pads. They're definitely the best looking home built pads I've ever seen._________________

That is a sweet home setup. At that price, I'd argue it's better just to buy a used arcade machine, but I understand the love to build and have a "hobby" project. Awesome rig. I'd be very interested in a how-to for those pads.

Well, my logic was this...

Let's go with a used machine... You're looking at anywhere between 3-6K (for a decent one) I've seen namco crap-o-cabs go for 1K but they're... well... crap. However, some people have lucked out and gotten an ITG / DDR machine for crazy cheap.

But anywho... 3-6K...

You buy a used cabinet...

Who knows the state of the sensors... all new sensors are 600 bucks.
If the screen isn't that good, a good new one is around 350-900 (depending on how good of screen you want).
If you want it to look nice... and get an all new set of decals, you're looking at a few hundred bucks.

And then, well... if it's a DDR machine... you'd prolly gut it and put in a computer with OpenITG or Stepmania... (so add boards for lights, controls, etc)

So, right there you're looking to put in at least a grand to get it to a nice condition...

Also, you're not getting...

1) Full 720P HD screen (I have a large set of HD BG movies on there)
2) 2 1200 Watt Sony Subs, Dual 300 Watt RMS Amps and Sony Speaker system (Way better than any arcade system)
3) Full working USB slots (Would need to add if DDR Machine)
4) Custom Graphics... (Can't find a machine like this, and it would cost just as much if you were converting an old machine to a new look)
5) All LED lighting system... (minus the subs)

So, eh... at 5K cdn... (so... 4-4.5K US... depending on where the rate has been... and don't forget shipping...) Really, the only difference is I had to put a lot more effort into building the cabinet, than it would have been to buy one. (However, depending on the condition of the cabinet, who knows how much it could need)

My logic was... I wanted something that I knew would work... Buying a used machine, is a gamble. I didn't want to buy a machine, and then have to put a ton of more money into it...

Also, one of the nice perks is... I built it, so if anything goes wrong... I know how to fix it.

But yeah, for MOST people... I wouldn't suggest building something like this... It's not cheap, and it's not easy... However, it looks d*** cool.